Taken from Herefordshire Council web site
Hereford scooped gold in this year’s Britain in Bloom competition run by the Royal Horticultural Society.
Green-fingered Balfour Beatty Living Places (BBLP) helped secure the coveted accolade with vibrant floral displays.
Cllr Paul Rone, Herefordshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, said he was delighted that the city had secured top horticultural honours.
“This is a wonderful award and richly deserved by everyone who has worked so hard to make the city an even more attractive place, both for the people who live here and for our visitors.
“I am delighted that BBLP has been able to support this campaign which brings communities together and does something that genuinely brightens local environments.â€
BBLP crews pulled out all the stops from designing colourful displays to reflect the 50th anniversary of the competition and the start of World War 1 to planting and maintaining the flower beds, planters and baskets.
Trevor Swindells, chairman of Hereford in Bloom, added: “I cannot praise the workforce of Balfour Beatty enough. They did a great job to ensure the judging went well.â€
Sean Pockett, BBLP’s ground maintenance supervisor, spoke of the pride the whole team felt about the competition: “This is much more than just a job for us. We are hugely proud that the planting schemes we’ve nurtured have proved a hit with the Britain in Bloom judges.â€
Among the colourful floral displays were swathes of poppies and many gold flowers to mark the two anniversaries.
Hereford in Bloom secured sponsorship to ensure the city bloomed and the City Council funded the watering.
Also, Pembridge and Lyonshall were awarded gold, Bromyard and Leominster were awarded silver gilt and Burghill picked up silver.
Judging criteria for the competition are: horticultural achievement, environmental responsibility and community participation.